It's not cute anymore, Republicans. The President of the United States is completely detached from reality, and you can't fix that. You can't cover it up, you can't explain it away, and let me make this as clear as I possibly can for you. You cannot possibly undo the damage you are doing to the party brand by trying to pretend this man is anything other than completely unhinged. I'm watching Sean Hannity borrow guests from the Alex Jones show in an attempt to bolster Trump's conspiratorial claims. I'm seeing relatively mainstream conservatives make themselves look like the crazed fringes of the paranoid right wing. Don't believe me? Look at this.

Yes, one week ago today I wrote a post that perhaps Trump had turned the corner and was going to be Presidential. Go ahead, get it out of your system. You done laughing at me? Fine. I deserved that. President Trump waits precisely 3 days to wake up, and with him he reawakened his paranoid delusional personality. Here was the resulting Twitter rant.

Now if you've been listening to Hannity, Levin, or any one of the vast majority of right wing pundits out there you might think that the President has a point. Is it fair for me to compare them to the crazed right? Absolutely. You know who else is making this point? World Net Daily. You may have known them for any one of their other crazed right wing conspiracies, like say (just for a completely random example) Trump's idiotic birther claims. I quote the above linked WND story here.

As WND reported on Monday, the evidence for Trump’s contention appeared to be published by the New York Times on Jan. 20, in an article with a print-version headline: “Wiretapped Data Used in Inquiry of Trump Aides.”

The article cited an official who said “intelligence reports based on some of the wiretapped communications had been provided to the White House.”

Others appeared to notice the irony of the Times apparently ignoring or discrediting its own story. On Sunday, radio talk-show host Mark Levin asked, in reference to the wiretapping: “You wanna know how I know? It’s in the newspapers! It’s right there!”

Alluding to that Times story and others, Levin quipped, “The media seems to be confused about their own reporting!”

On Monday, radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh targeted one of the three writers of the Times story, Michael Schmidt, who “wrote that Team Trump had Russia connections, and to support his point, said that Trump’s people were wiretapped, and that’s in the New York Times in January.”

“So,” Limbaugh continued, “Trump tweets over the weekend that Obama’s wiretapping him, and how low that is and what Trump thinks of it and so forth. This same reporter comes back and says there’s no evidence of that. Trump’s a lunatic. There’s no evidence that. Trump’s insane.

“Now, what’s going on at the New York Times?” wondered the talk-show host. “How in the world – do they know what they’re doing, or did they just forget what they did?”

Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, and World Net Daily all nicely wrapped together in one blanket. So clearly the New York Times must be wrong here, right? Not exactly. Here is the image of the newspaper article in question.

Now wait a second. It's right there. "Wiretapped Data Used In Inquiry Of Trump Aides". Fair enough, but does it say Trump was tapped? I would quote you the part of the article that does, but that part doesn't freaking exist. I've read the entire article and it says nothing of the kind. Here, read it yourself. Pay special attention to these paragraphs. (The following paragraphs are all from the article, but do not appear in consecutive order as quoted below. They can be read in full context in the linked article.)

It is not clear whether the intercepted communications had anything to do with Mr. Trump’s campaign, or Mr. Trump himself. It is also unclear whether the inquiry has anything to do with an investigation into the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computers and other attempts to disrupt the elections in November. The American government has concluded that the Russian government was responsible for a broad computer hacking campaign, including the operation against the D.N.C.

Counterintelligence investigations examine the connections between American citizens and foreign governments. Those connections can involve efforts to steal state or corporate secrets, curry favor with American government leaders or influence policy. It is unclear which Russian officials are under investigation, or what particular conversations caught the attention of American eavesdroppers. The legal standard for opening these investigations is low, and prosecutions are rare.

So there you see that NYT didn't claim it was a tapping of Trump, and they specifically pointed out that the communications were from Russians who were under investigation, and that it wasn't clear if the communications had anything to do with Trump or the Campaign. So no, Rush. They didn't forget what they did. You either didn't read what they did, or you are knowingly and willingly misrepresenting what they did.

At this point one might assume that the irony of this whole situation couldn't possibly be any thicker. One would be wrong. If you haven't vomited all over your screen in disgust at what this party is becoming, check out my personal favorite paragraph from the article.

Representatives of the agencies involved declined to comment. Of the half-dozen current and former officials who confirmed the existence of the investigations, some said they were providing information because they feared the new administration would obstruct their efforts. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the cases.

So the story comes from the New York Times, which Trump has called "fake news". The article is based on anonymous sources, and Trump has said when they don't name their sources it's because they are making it up. Yet when Trump learns of the article, he believes it and becomes enraged to the point that he tweets out in anger. So for those of you keeping score at home...

He should have dismissed the story since it was based on an article from the fake news.

He should have dismissed the story because it contained anonymous sources, a clear indicator of fake news.

No rational person could conclude from the story that Trump or his phone had been tapped.

At no point in the story did it even suggest that President Obama was personally involved in any of the espionage discussed.

Despite all of these facts, we have the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Levin defending the President. This is nothing short of insanity and it has got to stop. I don't care who you think you are, or what you think you are capable of, there is no way to make the delusional rantings of a mad man sound logical. You're simply tarnishing your own reputations and in so doing dragging the party down with you. You want to help? Clearly the guy listens to you. Call him. Get in touch with the secretary of his medicine cabinet. Find out what they shot him up with before his address to Congress and give him two more doses and confiscate his electronic devices until the morning. You're not doing him any favors by convincing him that this is anything other than the rantings of an unhinged person who is completely detached from reality. Furthermore, it is completely irrational to even want to do so. A man this gullible and this given to temper tantrums without any real provocation is a danger to himself and the Country when holding the position he currently occupies. Wake the hell up, folks. You're playing with fire. It's only a matter of time until someone gets burned.

Author

Steve Parry

]]>Wed, 08 Mar 2017 14:36:23 +0000Trump's Electoral Victoryhttp://theaxisofstevilshow.com/index.php/liberal-lexicon/trump-tracker/item/trump-s-electoral-victory-2.html
http://theaxisofstevilshow.com/index.php/liberal-lexicon/trump-tracker/item/trump-s-electoral-victory-2.html
Was it as impressive as he claims?

President Trump went on a long rant of a press conference yesterday where he lashed out at the press, and praised the job that he's been doing as President. He claimed that his Administration is running "like a fine tuned machine" and blamed the notion of a chaotic White House on "fake news". This word comes on the heels of one of his appointees resigning or being fired (depending on which day you ask the President), another appointee withdrawing to avoid being voted down, and a third declining his appointment, referencing the offer as a "shit sandwich". In the presser, President Trump also told a few whoppers, including one he has often repeated even though it has been thoroughly debunked.

“I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan. In other words, the media’s trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we made, and they’re not happy about it for whatever reason,”

When questioned about this statement he tried to qualify it by saying "for a Republican", but even with that qualifier the statement is still false. Here are the facts. George H. W, Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barrack Obama all had larger margins in the electoral college.

More disturbing than his constant use of alternative facts, however, is the completely unhinged manner in which he spoke yesterday. Consider these two statements, which come from the same press conference.

TRUMP: "I think we're setting a record, or close to a record, in the time of approval of a cabinet."

TRUMP: "I can't get my cabinet approved, and they’re outstanding people. Like Senator Dan Coats, who is there, one of the most respected men in the senate. He can't get approved ... I've also worked to install a cabinet over the delays and obstruction of Senate Democrats."

How does one simultaneously complain about not getting his cabinet approved, while praising himself for how quickly he got his cabinet approved? The thoughtless banter didn't end there.

“The leaks are absolutely real, The news is fake, because so much of the news is fake.”

And then there was this statement about watching CNN.

"I watch CNN. It's so much anger and hatred, and just the hatred. I don't watch it anymore because it's very good."

This really irritates me, because friends and family get on me for making fun of Trump, but what in the hell am I supposed to do with that? Any suggestions? Here we have a man claiming to have watched something, telling us what he observed, and then denying watching what he just described watching. And why doesn't he watch what he just watched? "Because it's very good." Am I supposed to pretend that any of that makes sense in any context? Am I supposed to try to find a way to spin this to where he could possibly be watching what he isn't watching, know what he didn't see, and rejected it because of how good it was?

Either way, we have Trump here once again repeating his debunked claim about having the biggest electoral victory since Reagan, lying about setting a record for how fast his cabinet was approved, complaining about how long it's taking to get his cabinet approved, describing what he sees on CNN, and denying that he watches CNN. Just another day of alternative facts from the Trump Administration.

As Trump has said, the level of violence in Chicago is through the roof. Last month, they had 40 murders in 22 days. 6 people were shot at a memorial for another victim of the gun violence on Wednesday. Despite last years spike in the murder rate, this year has gotten off to an even more violent start, with more murders-to-date than the city had seen in nearly 20 years. It's sad to see what is going on there, and President Trump has even talked about sending federal law enforcement to clean the mess up. One would think that with all of this violence and mayhem, the President wouldn't feel the need to invent murders that didn't happen. One would be wrong.

During President Trump's interview with David Muir of ABC, he made the following claim about President Obama's farewell address in Chicago.

"So, look, when President Obama was there two weeks ago making a speech, very nice speech, two people were shot and killed during his speech. You can't have that. They weren't shot at the speech. But they were shot in the city of Chicago during his speech. What — what's going on?"

According to the Tribune database, the city had no slayings for about 24 hours before and after Obama's speech, which lasted from 8:02 to 8:53 p.m. A man was shot about 20 minutes after the speech about eight miles away in the West Side's Lawndale neighborhood, but that victim survived, according to Police Department data.

More "alternative facts" from the President and his Administration. For those who would attack me for pointing it out, let me establish that I'm being completely fair with President Trump here. He was also attacked by the mayor of Philadelphia for the following statement.

"Here in Philadelphia the murder rate has been steady, I mean just terribly increasing,"

Mayor Kenney replied...

"Trump's false statements today were an insult to the men and women of the Philadelphia police force-the very same men and women who are working long hours today to ensure his safety."

However, taking Trump at his words, his statement wasn't necessarily wrong. While the murder rate dropped in Philadelphia in 2016, it was a marginal drop, and there has been a 37% increase in homicides YTD from last year. Thus, while President Trump's statements might be a bit dramatic, they aren't false or a lie. He is accurate that the rate has risen in the first 2 months of the year. "Terribly" would be a matter of opinion, and when we're talking about human lives, it certainly could be seen as a fair assessment.

I swear to you, I decided to start this new category yesterday. It's called "Trump Tracker", and it was my intent to track the lies of Donald Trump here to the best of my ability with the limited time I have. Right on cue, here comes Kellyanne Conway entering a new phrase into our Lexicon. "Alternative facts" as she put it, and Chuck Todd's reply could not possibly have been any better. "Alternative facts aren't facts, they are falsehoods." Well said. There is a phenomenon with Trump and a percentage of his supporters, where they seem to believe that they could wish things to be true and make it so. However, facts are stubborn things, and any alternative to a fact is by definition not factual.

Now, on to the Trump lie that brought us here. He was speaking to the CIA yesterday when he said the following.

“I have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth, and they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community. The reason you’re the No. 1 stop is, it is exactly the opposite. I love you, I respect you, there’s nobody I respect more.”

So, I would like to enter into the evidence the following tweet from @realDonaldTrump.

Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to "leak" into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany?

That isn't baited by the media. It isn't taken out of context, misconstrued, misrepresented, or misdefined by the media. There is no ambiguity to the quote. He accused the intelligence agencies of taking a shot at him, and compared them to Nazi's. And that's not the only time he did it. There was also this.

"I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. I think it's a disgrace, and I say that ... that's something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do,"

I went with the former first because it was a media free zone. He posted it of his own free will directly on twitter. The second example was spoken at a press conference, and while his wife might say he was egged on there, the tweet shows us his willingness and desire to express that sentiment without anyone antagonizing him or leading him with a question.

Thus, the first "Alternative Fact" to make the Trump tracker is the following statement from President Trump.

they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community.

No, sir. They didn't have a way to make it sound, that's just the way it is. You made it sound that way when you compared them to Nazi Germany.